The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a take-off roll for mechanically opening and taking-off or breaking apart fiber bales by loosening fiber flocks therefrom while using circular ring-shaped toothed discs mounted along and upon a rotatable shaft, these toothed discs being provided on their outer circumference with teeth.
From Swiss Pat. No. 376,403 a bale opener has become known to the art according to which rotating sawtooth discs, which protrude between grid bars or rods towards fiber bales moved over the grid bars, are arranged to wobble or carry out a reeling motion, i.e. these discs are arranged at an angle differing from 90 degrees with respect to their axis of rotation. The discs are arranged upon a shaft and are pressed between spacer members using tension anchors.
In practice it has been found that fiber bales of fiber material to be processed, in particular bales containing natural fibers, frequently contain foreign matter (e.g. metal particles, stones and so forth). The teeth of the toothed discs upon colliding with such foreign bodies or parts are damaged, and thus, depending upon the prevailing circumstances rendered unsuitable within a shorter on longer period of time. Consequently, the disc with the damaged tooth must be replaced. A disadvantage of the known bale opener resides in the fact that for replacing a disc of this type the shaft supporting the discs, including the discs, the spacer members, and the tension anchors, must be removed, dismantled, and upon insertion of the new disc again reassembled and mounted. Replacement of a disc thus entails a great deal of work and causes a relatively long downtime or interruption in the operation of of the equipment.
Furthermore, due to the use of tension anchors which must be inserted through the openings provided in the toothed discs, there is present a limited circumferential alignment or adjustment range of the discs. Thus, the tooth sequence or staggering of the teeth over different discs cannot be freely chosen.